At least one winter Saturday morning each year, I find myself glued into a back corner of some hotel meeting room nursing a quad-shot latte with a hat pulled low to the brow as a disguise.

The dreaded Legislative Coffee.

Not to be confused with a lovely Ethiopian bean, the Legislative Coffee is the regular gathering of select lawmakers from the Best Little City in America to talk about the issues facing America’s Forgotten State.

Maybe it’s because I spent several years as a legislative reporter in a galaxy far, far away, but I have an aversion to such things. It’s a bias, an affliction, brought on by hours upon hours of listening to legislators drone on about this or that pet project, or their deep philosophical aversion to integrated wheat-based dinner rolls.

Back in the days on the reporting front lines, there was a favorite phrase of some of my colleagues.

“Shut up and vote!”

There was some loose talk of getting T-shirts or placards made, but cooler heads prevailed. In the depths of many weeks of legislative maneuvering, patience wanes, but it was correctly decided that antagonizing said lawmakers from the press benches maybe wasn’t the best way to further democracy.

Still, if I can avoid it ...

Which is to say that I can understand at some level that the reverse is also true.

From the elected representatives’ viewpoint, they are looking out on the unwashed, plowing through emails and letters pointing out how ridiculous they all are and subjecting themselves to public scorn for nothing more than having the audacity to serve.

So if you can avoid it …

But that’s not how it works.

You put yourself on a ballot.

You take the job.

You have to talk to the people. Or at least listen.

Increasingly, though, our elected representatives at every level, of every philosophical bent, are building barriers between themselves and the people.

We’ve watched recently as these instances have crept to the level of news. Most notably:

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⬛ Minnehaha County Republicans voting to hold alternative legislative coffees because they believe the current version — sponsored by the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and run by the League of Women Voters — are not allowing for the expression of truly conservative viewpoints.

⬛ The Sioux Falls City Council again limiting debate on an issue that people actually care about, in this case snowgates. Note: I’m on the record as a snowgate skeptic, but the arbitrary nature of the time limit leaves one at the very least suspicious of intent.

⬛ The infrequent interactions between much of congressional delegation and the delegators. To his credit, Sen. John Thune is currently on a multi-city tour holding open town halls all along the way. Note: The senator will end the tour in Sioux Falls at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Holiday Inn City Centre. I would think you’d start the thing in the largest city in the state, not end it here, but let’s not quibble.

Those at the listening end of this conversation, these kings and queens of our government, will point out with a degree of enthusiasm that they talk to people all the time, that they answer countless emails and get stopped repeatedly while picking up toiletries and other unmentionables.

All that is probably true and, quite frankly, admirable.

Yet the slow and steady erection of the people barrier cannot be denied. In this, there is both shame and danger.

The chosen should be ashamed when the public’s input is limited. And the choosers must not overlook the threat of a government on dispassionate cruise control.

The Sioux Falls City Council is now considering establishing parameters for public input to prevent inequitable limits. While that’s a good step, they also need to consider the concept of a public hearing for volatile issues, such as snowgates, or events centers, or Walmart locations.

Take it out of the regular Tuesday night meeting. Set a separate time, and let the public talk.

Or they’ll start making T-shirts and placards, and then you’ve got real trouble.

It’s not that hard, the listening part.

That’s what I learned tucked away in the back of that hotel meeting room.